906 Plantaginaceae. 
1. Plants only 4—7 cm high. ... . 16. P. phaeostoma. 
2. Plants 20—40 em high or more. 
a) Corolla-lobes lanceolate-acute . . 17. P. Psyllium. 
B) Corolla-lobes ovate. ...... 18. P. squarrosa. 
1254. (1.) Plantago maior L. Spec. Plant. 1 (1753), p. 163. — 
Boiss. Flor. Or. IV, p. 878. — Rechbch. Icon. XVII, tab. 77, fig. I 
to If. — Aschers.-Schweinf. Ill Flor. d@Eg., p. 123 no. 846. — 
Sickenberg. Contrib. Flor. d’Eg., p. 268. — Icon. Flor. Dan., tab. 461. 
— Rootstock short and thick. Leaves erect or spreading, broadly 
ovate, often 8 or 10 cm long and nearly as broad, entire or toothed, 
glabrous or downy, marked with 7 (rarely 9 or only 5) prominent, 
parallel ribs, converging at the base into a rather long footstalk. 
Peduneles usually longer than the leaves, bearing a long, slender 
spike of sessile flowers, smaller than in the two following species. 
Sepals green in the centre, scarious on the edges. Stamens longer 
than the corolla, but shorter than in the two following species. Cap- 
sule 2-celled, with from 4—8 seeds in each cell. — Flow. October 
to March. 
M. ma. Abusir; El-Dekhéla; Mariut; Behig; Alexandria-West 
and -Kast; Abukir; everywhere in deep sandy places. — M. p. 
Damietta, in sandy places. — N.d. N.f. N. v. Common in sandy 
places, in fields and on way-sides. — O. Siwa; Little Oasis; Farafra; 
Great Oasis. 
Local name: mesisa (Delile); waraq sabin; lisan-el-kelb 
(Ascherson); generally: lisan-el-hamal; messasa; __ lissan-hammel 
(Schweinfurth, Ascherson, Muschler). 
Also known from all the other parts of the Mediterranean region, whole 
Europe, Asia and America, 
1255. (2.) Plantago albicans L. Spec. Plant. 1 (1753), p. 165. 
— Boiss. Flor. Or. IV, p. 882. — Rehbch. Ie. XVII, tab. 78, tig. IV. — 
Aschers.-Schweinf. Ill. Flor. d’Eg., p. 123 no. 847. — Sickenberg. 
Contrib. Flor. d’Eg., p. 268. —. Aschers. Flor. Rhinocol., p. 802 no. 
205. — Aschers.-Schweinf. Primit. Flor. Marmaric., p. 802 no. 205. 
— Ie. Cav., tab. 124. — Sibth. and Smith Flor. graec., tab. 155. — 
DC. Prodrom. XIII, p. 705. — Perennial plant, 2—10 cm high, 
or sometimes somewhat more, acaulescent, densely tufted. Leaves 
sessile, linear, hairy, 2—9 em long, obscurely 3-nerved. Peduncle 
elongated, more or less hairy. Spike long, cylindrical; bracts ovate, 
glabrous, as. long as the calyx. Sepals 1 mm long, oblong, obtuse, 
hairy. Corolla-lobes small, ovate. Stamens short. Capsule 2-seeded. 
— Flow. January to May. 
